Darkness Between the Leaves
by SkyFallenHearts
Summary: Sequel to Survival's Barriers. It has been a week since their attempted escape from the island. With Namine into the adventure, the four teens look closer into the secrets of the island. Why can't they leave? And what of these Shadows showing up? The island is darker then they ever imagined. "Maybe... this island isn't what we thought... it's hiding something." AU Sokai Rokunami
1. Happy on the Island

**I'm back from the dead! Yes everyone it is the sequel to Survival's Barriers, so if you haven't read that, I suggest reading that first before so you fully understand what's going on.**

**Honestly I am going to try my hardest NOT to take more then a month break, and with breaks coming up it shouldn't be too difficult. Anyways! First chapter is a little boring and slow but bear with me, I have great plans in mind for this sequel.**

XXX

It had been at least a week since their attempt to escape the island.

…

"Hey Namine, you alright?" Roxas asked, walking down the white beach to sit next to the blonde girl. She was sitting with her knees hugged to her chest and eyes glued to the blue waves; watching intently as if the deep ocean would give her all the answers.

"I'm okay," Namine replied, her eyes fixed on the blue ocean before her, "I'm just thinking, as usual." Her blond hair swayed in the ocean breeze, settling over her right shoulder when it died down.

"You remember anything yet?" Roxas wondered.

Namine shook her head, closing her light blue eyes, "Nothing… It's like my memories are just out of reach. I can't figure it out…" She opened her eyes and turned towards Roxas, "I do appreciate you, Sora, and Kairi helping me though."

Roxas offered a small smile, "Hey we're friends, and it's what we're for."

Namine smiled back, turning her attention back towards the ocean. "Where are Sora and Kairi anyway?"

Roxas shook his head, "No idea." The couple had taken a liking to going off on their own to who-knows-where. Sometimes they would only be gone for minutes, other times hours. Even one time Roxas was sure they had fallen asleep wherever they were due to them not being in the small cabin in the morning with Roxas and Namine. He never pushed or asked questions about it as long as he knew his sister was happy. Not that Roxas minded it though; he loved spending time with the beautiful blonde girl that had literally ridden the waves into their lives.

"I suppose we should head back," Namine said, nodding towards the setting sun. She got up, fixing her light blue shorts and white tank top.

"Yeah," Roxas replied, getting up as well. He smiled at Namine, "How much do you wanna bet Sora and Kairi aren't back at the cabin yet?"

Namine grinned up at him, "A handful of blackberries?"

"Oh you're on!" Roxas exclaimed, knowing how rare blackberries were on the island, and ran back towards the cabin with Namine hot on his heels.

…

Namine ended up coming out better, not only in her bet with Roxas but the race back to the cabin. She had burst in front of him half way to the cabin and kept her lead the entire way. Roxas was a little upset he lost but _damn_ that girl could run. He wondered if she was some sort of track star before she ended up on the island.

"Looks like they aren't here, I win!" Namine exclaimed from inside the cabin, skipping out with a grin on her face.

"Yeah yeah I'll get you your blackberries tomorrow," Roxas replied through the smile on his face. The two had grown close in less than a week. Especially after Roxas' raft failed to carry them more than a hundred feet into the ocean; needless to say he was glad Namine was there to make him feel better.

Although, as Roxas thought back on it, there's no way his raft should've just sunk like that. They had barely made it out into the ocean when the raft began to give way beneath them; a few more feet and the whole thing broke in two beneath them. When he asked Sora if that ever happened to him when he tried to get off the island Sora merely responded by saying he had never tried escaping before. Though it bugged him, Roxas figured the world could wait as long as he could be with Namine.

As Roxas was deep in thought, Sora and Kairi came strolling towards the cabin, fingers intertwined with each other's.

"Hey you two," Sora waved as he came up and sat next to Roxas in front of their cabin.

Roxas turned to Sora and blinked, taking a second to realize the brunette was next to him. "You cost me a handful of blackberries spiky," Roxas muttered.

"I wha-?" Sora started.

"It was a bet," Namine giggled, "how was your day?"

"Oh it was great," Kairi smiled, leaning on Sora, "the highlight of my day was Sora wrestling with a tree branch."

"Hey!" Sora exclaimed as Kairi, Namine, and Roxas started laughing.

"A tree branch Sora? Really?" Roxas said between bursts of laughter.

"That tree branch was tough," Sora huffed, crossing his arms and turning away.

"Aw," Kairi said as she kissed his cheek, "don't worry it was hilariously cute."

Sora blushed, wrapping his arms around Kairi and kissing the top of her head, "Well then I guess its okay." He grinned and turned to Namine. "So what did you guys do all day?"

Namine shrugged, "Walked around the island for a while, ate some fruit, and watched the sun being to set on the beach."

"Slept and followed Namine around," Roxas stated simply as Namine giggled.

"You know, I'm glad we're still on this island," Kairi sighed, watching the leaves on the top of the trees sway in the wind.

"Yeah I'm kinda glad the raft didn't work," Roxas smiled.

They all sat together for a while, watching the trees and listening to the sound of the island. Each one lost in their own thoughts as the light from the sun slipped away and was replaced by the moon and a star filled sky. The calmness took over as Kairi closed her eyes and fell asleep leaning on Sora.

It seemed like a long time before the stillness was broken by Roxas. He stood up, yawning and stretching his arms above his head. "We better head inside; I'll see you guys in the morning." He waved as he walked inside, Namine not too far behind him, her eyes filled with sleep. Sora gently maneuvered Kairi so he could pick her up without waking her. He slowly stood and carried her into the cabin, setting her down on one of the four beds they had constructed out of many leaves.

Sora smiled down at the beautiful red head and stepped back outside, taking in the island one more time before drifting off to sleep. He took a deep breath, "Never thought I'd ever be truly happy here," he muttered to himself a smile on his lips.

The brunette turned to go back inside but something moving caught his eye. He turned towards it, squinting to try and see it closer but all he saw were shadows among the foliage. Sora shrugged it off as being his imagination and stepped back inside, lying down next to Kairi and drifting into the arms of sleep.

Outside, a set of yellow and red eyes flashed into existence in the shadows but disappeared as soon as they came.

XXX


	2. Dark Dreams

**Oh the joys of quick updates.**

XXX

Sora groaned as the light from the sun burst through the holes in the cabin and straight into his eyes. He yawned as he slowly stood, noticing that no one else was in the cabin with him. He ran his fingers through his hair and stepped outside.

"So he finally wakes."

Sora turned to see Roxas leaning up against the trunk of a tree, a half-eaten mango in his hand.

"Can't help my sleeping habit," Sora smiled, "where are Namine and Kairi?"

"Oh, those two? They got up earlier than usual, waking me up in the process," Roxas grumbled, "but Kairi said something about showing Namine the sunrise."

"The sunrise huh? Oh yeah… Namine hasn't seen it," Sora said taking a drink of water and sitting in front of the cabin. He glanced at Roxas as a thought came into his mind and a grin grew on his face. "You know… I thought you'd be the first one to show Namine the sunrise."

Roxas turned his head towards Sora sharply, a shocked look flashing across his face momentarily, but managed to keep his cool, "Oh yeah? Why would you think that?"

Sora chuckled, taking another drink of water before he answered, "You've been spending a lot of time with her haven't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Oh come on, don't deny that there isn't _something_ between you two," Sora's grin grew.

"Nope I'll deny it," Roxas stated, finishing his mango, "we're just friends dude."

Sora rolled his eyes and looked up at the sun, seeing it was almost directly overhead. If Kairi had taken Namine to see the sunrise shouldn't they have been back a long time ago? He turned towards the direction of the side of the beach they always hung out at, expecting to see Kairi and Namine come out any second.

"Hey Roxas… Shouldn't they have been back a while ago?" Sora asked.

Roxas glanced up at the sun climbing higher into the sky, "Yeah they should be, but they could've got sidetracked."

"Maybe…"

"Hey don't worry about it man, they'll be back," Roxas stated, walking over to sit next to the brunette. Roxas couldn't help but notice how different Sora was compared to their first encounter. The brunette was no longer that terrified boy they had crossed paths with the first time. He had grown stronger and more open to him, Kairi, and Namine. A smile crept onto the blonde's face as he thought how great it was that his sister Kairi and Sora were together. Roxas didn't have to worry about protecting his sister from other guys or bad boyfriends but he figured getting trapped on this island was enough that he wouldn't have to worry about that sort of thing.

"Roxas? Is something wrong? You're looking at me funny," Sora asked, snapping Roxas out of his thoughts

"Oh yeah," Roxas managed a nervous laugh, "yeah it's nothing."

…

"Wow! It's as beautiful as the sunset!" Namine exclaimed, her eyes filled with wonder as the blonde gazed at the sunrise. Kairi grinned at Namine; it was like a kid in a candy store. The red head began to wonder if Namine had ever seen such a beautiful sunrise before she lost her memory.

"Yeah it really is," Kairi smiled at the sunrise, "I remember when Sora showed me the sunrise. One morning, after we had spent the whole day before working on the raft, he woke me up early; told me he just _had _to show me the sunrise."

Namine turned towards the red head, taking her eyes off the sunrise for the first time since they stepped on the beach, "You love him a lot?"

Kairi turned her indigo eyes to the blonde and nodded slowly, "With all my heart."

"Must be nice," Namine sighed, looking down and kicking some sand, her expression becoming somber.

"Hey you like Roxas right?" Kairi asked out of the blue.

Namine looked up, surprised by Kairi's sudden question, "Y-Yeah I like him as a friend."

"I mean more than friends," Kairi grinned as Namine's face began to turn a light shade of pink. "Namine really it's okay to like someone, you guys would be cute together."

The blonde sat down on the white sand, turning her attention back towards the climbing sun, "Maybe I do, I don't know…"

Kairi nodded in understanding, sitting down next to Namine, both of them with their legs drawn up to their chests. Kairi thought about how awful is must be to have lost your memory. No memories of where you came from, who you are, your family. The red head glanced at Namine; the wonder still filled the blonde's vivid light blue eyes. This girl that washed up on the beach might look frail and fragile on the outside but she was strong on the inside, so full of wonder and life.

Kairi smiled, turning back to the sun and sliding her eyes shut as she basked in the warmth the sun provided.

…

Kairi found herself walking through the forest at night. She could smell the familiar scents of the island but where she was walking wasn't recognizable. Each tree and bush looked the same no matter which way she turned. The only thing that lighted her path was the full moon up above but when Kairi looked up there were no stars, only the moon.

As she stopped to try and get a bearing on her surroundings a large _SNAP_ was heard. Kairi turned her head forward and came face to face with bright yellow eyes. She wanted to scream but her voice wouldn't work so she turned and ran, seemingly passing the same things over and over until she truly thought she was running the same path. Just as her legs were about to give out she collapsed into a clearing.

Once Kairi regained her breath she looked up to see where she was at and what she saw almost made her heart stop.

Sora was in front of her, on his hands and knees covered in blood, his shirt in tatters but she could make out his beautiful cerulean eyes, though they were filled with fear when he looked at her. Two creatures with glowing yellow eyes and a body seemingly made out of the shadows themselves stood on either side of Sora. They had sharp claws that dripped with what Kairi guessed was Sora's blood.

When she managed to tear her eyes away from Sora she found the edges of the clearing were full of these Shadows; her and Sora were both surrounded.

"Kairi…" Sora groaned.

Then the creatures pounced.

…

"Kairi! Kairi wake up!"

The red head groaned as she cracked her eyes open and saw Namine staring down at her, her eyebrows scrunched up in worry.

"It was just a dream…" Kairi mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her head.

"What was that?" Namine asked.

"Huh? Oh nothing," Kairi forced a small smile, "why'd you wake me up?"

Namine looked Kairi up and down as if deciding if she should push further to what was going on with the red head. "You were having a nightmare," Namine spoke, "besides…" The blonde turned and pointed to the sun which was already above them. "We should be heading back."

Kairi blinked up at the sun, taking in how long they must've been out here. She turned to Namine, "Do you think the guys are worried?"

Namine shrugged, "Only one way to find out." The blonde helped Kairi up and they started walking back to the cabin. She was still worried about Kairi, the nightmare she was having seemed pretty bad due to the sounds she was making and the way she clenched and unclenched her fists in the sand; it woke Namine up from her slumber on the beach. However she would ask the red head about it later, obviously now wasn't the right time.

As they were walking Kairi kept glancing to the side nervously like she was expecting the shadows from her dream to jump out and attack the two girls. Three-quarters of the way to the cabin she could've sworn she saw the yellow eyes staring at her from in the shadows of a large bush.

"Did you see that?" Kairi halted, stopped Namine, and pointed to where she saw the eyes.

"See what? Are you… okay Kairi?" Namine asked worriedly, trying to figure out what was going on with Kairi.

"Yeah… must have just been my imagination…" Kairi chuckled weakly, "sorry, let's keep going."

Namine nodded and continued walking. Kairi was thankful she wasn't questioned further; after all it was probably just her nerves getting to her… Right?

…

When the two girls entered the clearing that held their cabin they found Sora and Roxas pacing back and forth, almost in sync, with their heads down so at first Namine and Kairi went unnoticed.

"Guys?" Kairi said and the two boys stopped in their tracks and stared at Namine and Kairi.

"You're back!" Sora exclaimed, happily running to Kairi and embracing her, "we were getting worried."

Roxas ran and hugged Namine as well, until he realized what he did and let go, both blonde's sporting a light pink on their faces.

"Worried?" Kairi asked, "We're fine Sora."

"May we ask where you've been? You said you were only showing Namine the sunrise." Roxas stated.

"We fell asleep on the beach, it's no big deal," Namine smiled, still recovering over the initial shock of Roxas' hug.

"How'd you fall asleep so quickly if you just woke up a few minutes before?" Sora wondered.

"Say's the guy who could fall asleep anywhere for hours…" Roxas mumbled and Kairi and Namine tried to suppress their giggles but failed in the end.

Sora scratched the back of his head nervously, "Ah come on gimme a break," he said through a smile. The smile on her boyfriend's face temporarily washed away Kairi's worried about her recent dream.

Their laughter faded away as Sora glanced at their food supply and the slightest of frowns replaced his beautiful smile. "Hey Kairi want to come help me pick some more fruit for the four of us?" Sora asked.

Kairi looked at the few mangos and one coconut they had left and nodded to Sora, "Yeah of course."

Sora smiled and looked at Roxas, a mischievous glint in the brunette's blue eyes, "Roxas how about you and Namine go get us some more water?" Sora stated, tossing the almost empty canteen to Roxas.

The blonde boy barely managed to catch the canteen before it smacked him in the face and glared at Sora. "Yeah... alright."

"Great we'll meet back here after," Namine smiled and the four split off in opposite directions. Sora threw a grin at Roxas as they caught eyes while Kairi winked at Namine then they were both swallowed by the vast forest around them.

XXX

** I've seen a lot of people going back to read Survival's Barriers which really makes me feel good people are really taking an interest in this story so thank you guys.**

**Until next Chapter!**


	3. Reliving the Past

**Yay it's finally getting colder outside!**

XXX

As Roxas and Namine trudged through the dense forest to their destination of the small stream, Roxas couldn't help stealing a few glances at the beautiful blonde girl beside him. All the while Sora's words echoed through his skull. '_Oh come on, don't deny that there isn't _something _between you two.' _Was there anything between them? Roxas honestly had no idea, though maybe he wouldn't really mind if there was… Oh who was he kidding, he and Namine are just friends, and he didn't want to jeopardize that.

Equally, Namine was lost in her own thoughts as they made the journey to the stream. What was probably a forty minute walk might as well have been five minutes due to the blonde girl being so preoccupied in her mind. Again she strained to remember anything of her past, desperately delving into any memories that could have remained. But, yet again, she came up with nothing, not even the shadow of a memory of where she came from.

Long into their walk Namine had stumbled on a stray root sticking out of the ground, and would've fallen flat on her face had it not been for Roxas looping his arms around her waist and catching her mid-fall. Namine's face grew red at the sudden contact and once she was righted on her feet she took a few moments until she broke out of his embrace, quietly thanking him and offering a shy smile before they continued walking.

They had spent the whole walk in silence apart from Namine's misstep. However once they arrived at the stream Roxas broke the comfortable silence they had been sharing.

"Namine, do you feel safe with us?" The blonde boy asked suddenly as he knelt down to fill the canteen back up.

Namine stared at him for a few moments, taken aback by the sudden question. "O-of course I do," she replied slowly, "why wouldn't I?"

Roxas shrugged, keeping his eyes on the gentle water beneath him, "There's just something about this island I don't like. I know it isn't your fault but this island just got… darker since you arrived."

"Darker? How?" Namine asked as she knelt down next to Roxas, both letting the water run between their fingers.

The blonde boy at her side shook his head and screwed the canteen shut before responding, "I can't explain it really…" suddenly a thought came to his mind, something he hadn't thought about, nor talked of for a long time, "We never told you about Riku did we?"

"Riku?" Namine shook his head, "no I haven't heard anything about a Riku."

Roxas sighed, sitting back against a nearby trunk as Namine sat next to him, icy blue eyes trained on him. "Riku was Sora's brother, when me and my sister washed up on this island, Riku and Sora were already here. When Kairi and I first met Sora she immediately grew a sort of… attachment to him," Roxas took a deep breath and stared down at his hands, "she ran from me when I told her she couldn't go after Sora, that we had to focus on getting back home. I met Riku one night when Kairi was off looking for Sora."

Roxas chuckled weakly, remembering how foolish he was then. All the while Namine watched his movements and facial expressions closely, hanging onto every word he said. "You could say I made a deal with the devil," Roxas continued, "Riku was after Sora, he wanted to kill him; and Riku used me to get to him. I got my sister hurt and Sora hurt. I haven't thought about it 'till now but I can't forgive myself. But there's just something about this place… it's not right."

As soon as he finished Namine wrapped her arms around his midsection, burying her face into his chest. "It wasn't your fault Roxas," the blonde girl breathed, "people make mistakes."

She pulled back and looked into his eyes, blue meeting blue. "Besides, everything turned out fine right?" Namine smiled.

Roxas blinked, still processing what just happened. His features melted into a smile as he looked at the girl in front of him, "Yeah I guess you're right."

Namine giggled and stood, "Of course I'm right," she extended her hand out to him, "now let's head back huh?"

Roxas laughed, taking her hand and getting to his feet, taking a moment to stare into each other's eyes before they broke their gaze and started making the trek back to the cabin.

…

Namine was, for once, not lost in her own mind. She took in the scenery around them as they strolled through the forest, admiring the now setting sun shining through the leaves of the trees above them. Purple, orange, and yellow painted over the calming green on the foliage. She smiled at the warm breeze that blew her hair and swayed the trees, creating the gentle rustle that set her mind at ease.

But two distinct dots of yellow caught her attention. Namine came crashing out of her peace as she stared at what seemed to be glowing yellow eyes. Where the yellow eyes were was surrounded by a shadow where a shadow shouldn't be for sun was streaming into the spot where it was.

'_We know who you are.'_

"Huh?" Namine spoke aloud, coming to a complete stop and staring at the shadow. Who just said that? Surely it wasn't her imagination.

"Namine?" Roxas turned back to look at her, "what is it?"

The blonde haired girl turned to look at him, pointing at the spot where the shadow is, "There was a—" but as she looked back where the yellow eyes were, nothing was there, just the bright rays of the sun.

"You doing alright?" Roxas asked worriedly.

"Y-yeah," Namine replied hesitantly, eyes still glued to the spot where the strange being was, "I'm fine, it's nothing." She turned back to Roxas, sending him a smile she hoped would relieve his worries. If he didn't believe it, he didn't show it, for he smiled back and they continued walking in that comfortable silence the two took sanctuary in.

The whole way back Namine kept thinking about what she saw, and her thoughts went back to what Roxas had told her earlier. _'But there's something about this place… it's not right.' _The blonde haired girl shivered at the thought. The whole way back she would occasionally glance to the side of her, expecting the creature to appear at any moment. Maybe Roxas was on to something.

But this was just another worry that was set on her mind that seemed to never relax.

XXX

**Short chapter, I know. But I wanted to build on the whole Roxas/Namine thing. Anyways! Don't worry we'll catch up with Sora and Kairi in the next chapter so watch out for that. See you guys next chapter!**


	4. The Shadow Appears

**Happy Thanksgiving!**

XXX

While Namine and Roxas had set off to refill their canteen, Sora and Kairi had gone to pick some more fruit for the four of them. The couple spent the whole walk talking and laughing, both thankful for each other's company. Kairi would burst with love for Sora if she could. His beautiful cerulean eyes and cheerful smile sent her heart soaring.

As they were gathering mangos, coconuts, and various berries, Sora decided to bring up the topic of the two blondes.

"Okay, you talk to Namine a lot right?" Sora asked as he reached up to pick a nearby mango from a tree.

"Hm? Yeah, we're friends of course," Kairi replied, piling some berries into a large leaf they used as a makeshift basket.

"Has she… talked about Roxas at all?" Sora said as casually as he possibly could, not looking away from what he was doing.

"Talked about Roxas?" Kairi blinked with surprise and stared at Sora, "I mean… sometimes, I brought him up while me and her were on the beach this morning."

The brunette boy turned his attention towards his girlfriend, a smirk playing across his features, "They obviously like each other."

Kairi giggled and went back to gathering berries, "Yup, they might even _love _each other. Have you talked to Roxas about it too?"

"I sure have, of course he denies it but I know better."

"How long do you think it'll take them to get together?" Kairi asked, matching Sora's smirk with her own.

"Who knows," Sora sighed, placing the mango's he collected into their 'basket'. "Roxas is stubborn."

"And Namine is shy," Kairi retorted.

Sora pounded his fist against his palm, "Then we must try our best to help them realize their feelings for each other," the brunette said with determination to get the two blondes together.

Kairi laughed, "Yeah okay Sora we'll work on it. Let's just finish this and head back."

Her boyfriend smiled warmly and nodded, returning to his work as the couple settled into the same comfortable silence Roxas and Namine shared.

…

Roxas and Namine made it back before Sora and Kairi.

Roxas set the canteen beside the cabin, sitting down and leaning against the wooden walls of their home.

Namine sat down next to the blonde boy, the mysterious shadow she saw still on her mind. What exactly was that thing? It certainly was not human. She drew her knees to her chest, sighing deeply and staring at the ground near her feet. As the blonde continued deep in thought about the strange creature, a sudden thought occurred to her.

…

"_Did you see that?" Kairi halted, stopped Namine, and pointed to a spot in the forest._

"_See what? Are you… okay Kairi?" Namine asked worriedly, trying to figure out what was going on with Kairi._

"_Yeah… must have just been my imagination…" Kairi chuckled weakly, "sorry, let's keep going."_

…

'_What was it that Kairi saw?'_ Namine thought, her icy blue eyes growing wide with realization. _'Could she… Maybe she saw a shadow like I did! It might be a long shot but I have to ask her when her and Sora return.'_ The blonde girl nodded to herself, satisfied with the fact she's actually going to do something about what she saw.

As the minutes dragged on, the two blondes stayed in their comfortable silence, both listening to the forest around them. However, Namine was itching for Sora and Kairi to return, she _had_ to ask Kairi soon. As Namine became restless Roxas finally broke their silence.

"Are you okay Namine? You seem… fidgety," Roxas asked with concern.

Namine noticed she had been impatiently tapping her fingers against the ground and quickly stopped herself, turning to Roxas with a smile, "Yeah I'm fine, no worries."

The blonde boy next to her nodded and stared up at the blue sky above them.

A few more minutes and Namine heard a rustle of bushes to her left. She immediately jumped to her feet when Sora and Kairi appeared, a large green leaf full of various fruits in the red heads arms.

Sora waved as the couple approached their friends, "Guess you guys got back before us."

Roxas stayed at his position on the ground, looking up at the brunette, "Yeah we sure did slowpokes," the blonde chuckled.

Namine wasted no time, "Hey Kairi?"

Kairi turned to her friend, a smile on her face, "What is it Namine?"

"Can we talk, alone? I need to ask you something."

Kairi blinked before nodding. She turned to the two boys, "We'll be back in a little bit guys."

As the two girls turned to go Namine called over her shoulder, "How about you two make yourselves useful and organize our food supply while we're gone."

"Hey we're not slaves ya know!" Roxas shouted after them as the two girls giggled and disappeared into the forest.

"We better do what they say Roxas," Sora grumbled, "besides, you've gotta tell me how things were with Namine." The brunette grinned as he nudged Roxas with his elbow.

"Sora!" Roxas shouted; a faint blush sprouting on his cheeks as Sora broke into laughter.

…

"Okay Namine what's up?" Kairi asked once they settled into a spot under a group of fully grown trees.

"Remember earlier on the way back to the cabin from the beach? You stopped and asked if I saw something." Namine said, immediately catching the red heads full attention. "What did you see?"

"What did I see?" Kairi repeated slowly, shocked by Namine's sudden question. "Well… I saw two glowing yellow eyes… surrounded by a dark shadow."

"I knew it!" Namine exclaimed suddenly, causing Kairi to jump.

"Knew what? What's going on Namine?"

"Kairi! I saw a shadow with yellow eyes earlier when I was walking back to the cabin with Roxas!"

"Seriously?" Kairi gasped as the blonde nodded. The red head placed a hand to her chin, deep in thought, "There's something going on here…"

"Well whatever it is—" Namine was cut off as a scream pierced the air.

"That sounded like Roxas!" Kairi shouted, "come on let's go!" The red head grabbed Namine's wrist and both girls took off back towards the cabin.

When the two girls burst through the foliage they were met with a scene that made their blood run cold. The fruit they had gathered was scattered across the ground, some completely crushed, the juices staining the ground. Roxas was on his knees, clutching his left arm while Sora stood in front of him protectively, wielding his knife.

And in front of them, a creature as black as night stood on two feet with sharp claws sprouting from its fingers and toes. On its right claw, Kairi could see the red of blood dripping to the ground; Roxas's blood.

When the creature turned around to focus its attention on the two girls, its yellow eyes glowed and Kairi could see the flash of sharp white teeth in its mouth.

"Namine… it's that shadow!" Kairi shouted.

Namine nodded slowly, mouth hung open in shock, "But why is it attacking?"

Then the creature bounded towards Kairi, its bloody claw stretched out to strike the red head down.

"Kairi! Watch out!" Sora screamed.

Kairi quickly grabbed the knife Sora had made her a while ago from her pocket. Eyes wide with fear she swung blindly, feeling the knife connect with something. Next thing she knew the creature was on the ground, letting out an ear piercing shriek as it clawed at the ground. Its arm had been severed from Kairi's blow and now lay, useless and twitching, on the ground.

"Nice one Kairi!" Namine cheered, having made her way to Roxas's side to see the wound on his arm.

Sora took his chance and lept at the black creature while it was down and plunged his knife deep into its back. The thing let out a horrible shriek before it completely disappeared in a puff of black along with its severed arm. Immediately he ran to Kairi. "Kairi are you hurt?" He asked his girlfriend worriedly, looking her over for any injuries.

Seeing Sora in front of her, Kairi broke out of the paralyzing fear that had overtook her. "I'm fine Sora, are you?"

The brunette nodded, "I'm all right."

Kairi smiled and walked over to her injured brother. Namine was kneeling next to him, tending to the wound in his arm. "Roxas…" Kairi whispered as her blonde brother looked up at her.

"That thing came out of nowhere; got Roxas with its claws before I managed to kick it away," Sora explained, guilt lacing his voice as he looked at Roxas's wound.

"Sora… it wasn't you're fault, I'm going to be fine," Roxas assured his brunette friend, trying to dissipate the guilt.

Kairi nodded and embraced her boyfriend, "Yeah Sora, there's no way you could've known…"

"Don't worry Sora, the wound is going to heal nicely," Namine added as she finished wrapping Roxas's arm.

The four of them sat together, all thinking about what just happened.

"Kairi…" Sora started, catching his girlfriend's attention. "You called that thing a Shadow, have you seen it before?"

The red head shared a glanced with Namine, "Yes actually, both me and Namine have seen that creature."

Namine nodded, "I saw it when we were walking back, Roxas. But when I turned to show you, it had disappeared. Same happened when Kairi tried to show me it this morning on our way back from the beach."

"How come neither of you said anything?" Roxas demanded.

"First of all, we didn't want either of you to worry," Kairi said.

"And for all we knew, we could've just been imagining it," Namine finished.

Sora sighed deeply, causing the three around him to turn their attention to the brunette. "Maybe… this island isn't what we thought," he spoke quietly, staring at his hands, "It's hiding something."

Kairi, Roxas, and Namine all shared concerned glances before looking up into the sun setting sky, all wondering what was going on within this island.

XXX

**Well, that happened. We're finally getting serious, yay! Anyways, see you guys next chapter!**


	5. The Keyhole

**I apologize for the semi-long break but I'm back! I got distracted; I recently started watching Inuyasha again. If you haven't seen it... Great anime! Anyways, on with the story!**

XXX

Sora stifled a yawn as he rubbed his tired eyes. He had stayed up all night outside, lost in thought about the mysterious dark creature and intent on keeping his friends safe. Now dawn was finally breaking through the new morning sky.

"Sora?"

The brunette turned his head at the sound of his name, meeting the sight of Kairi stepping out of the cabin, rubbing the last of the sleep out of her indigo eyes. "Did you sleep?" she asked as she sat down next to her boyfriend, both leaning against the outside wall of their home.

Sora shook his head, letting out a sigh as he ran his fingers through his spiky hair, "Couldn't get my mind to rest."

"What have you been thinking about?"

"What do you think?" Sora drew another long sigh, eyes glued to the ground in front of him. "I just can't stop thinking about it. I've been on this island for over a year and I've never seen anything like it."

"We'll figure out what's going on Sora, don't worry."

The brunette nodded and stood, "You're right, and I'm going to search the island right now."

Kairi, in sudden shock, stood up quickly as well to get level with Sora's eyes. "You're going right now? Just like that?"

Sora gave a small smile, "Just like that. Namine and Roxas can take care of themselves until I return." The brunette slung the water-filled canteen over his shoulder and turned towards the forest. "Now…" he turned to look over his shoulder at his girlfriend with that goofy smile on his face that made her heart swoon, "are you coming or not?"

Kairi giggled and nodded, both heading off into the lush green forest.

They were gone for _10 hours._

…

"There has to be something."

"Face it; maybe what we saw was just our imaginations."

"No way was that just a figment of our imagination!"

"It could've been!"

"Highly doubtful. How could four people think they see the same thing at the same time?"

"Well… you've got me there."

Sora groaned as he pushed aside another group of branches so him and Kairi could pass. They had been at this for who knows how long, stopping only once to refill their canteen. Despite Sora's great physical state the search had really taken a toll on him. His muscles ached all over, his throat had gone dry no matter how much water he drank, and the bottoms of his feet had no feeling what-so-ever left in them.

"Of course I got you there," Kairi replied, "can't we head back now? It could be very late for all we know."

Sora sighed and looked up to try and get a better idea of the time but the view of the sky was almost completely covered by the large leaves of the trees above them.

"Alright… Let's just rest here then we'll head back," Sora said as they both leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree, facing a rather large and mossy gray rock in front of them. The brunette sighed and stared up at the large green leaves hanging over them, only a few streaks of light broke through the trees and illuminated the areas around them.

As Sora was lost in thought, a sudden shimmer of light caught his attention and he turned his head forward where the strange light came from, only to be met with the sight of the same gray mossy rock in front of them. _'What the…'_ He looked away from the rock and once again the shimmering sparkled in the corner of his vision, but, as before, when he turned to look all that was there was the rock.

Sora turned to Kairi to see if she saw anything only to find the red heads eyes closed as she basked in a few streams of sunlight that illuminated her beautiful complexion— There was that light again!

Sora whipped his head around and the light seemed to disappear. Only that weird gray rock… The brunette eyed it suspiciously, and despite his aching muscles, he pushed himself to his feet and slowly walked towards the rock.

Kairi's eyes flickered open at the sound of movement, she got to her feet and noticed Sora up; she watched where he was going. "Sora? What's wrong?"

But her boyfriend gave no response as he neared the strange mossy rock, finally coming close enough he reached out to touch it and just as he was about to make contact a blinding light flashed into existence. The brunette boy was sent flying backwards, landing in front of Kairi.

"Sora!" The red head exclaimed as she knelt next to him, propping his head up on her lap. "Are you alright?"

Sora groaned and opened his eyes, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head, "Yeah… I'm fine."

Kairi turned to look at the rock that seemingly knocked Sora backwards as if with a will of its own, and gasped at what she saw, "Sora… Look."

"Huh?" Sora turned his attention back to the rock and instead of just the smooth gray surface decorated with foliage; an odd shape shimmered in the center of it. And to Sora, it looked like a keyhole.

"A keyhole…" Sora said as he stood and approached it, more cautiously this time.

"Have you ever seen this before?" Kairi asked as she came up behind him, eyes fixated on the glowing shape in front of them.

The brunette shook his head, "Never… Things just keep getting weirder and weirder."

The red head grabbed onto her boyfriend's arm, "Let's go tell Namine and Roxas, maybe we can get their opinion."

"What, you think they'll believe us?"

Kairi snorted in disbelief at his statement, "After what we saw yesterday, I'm sure they'll believe us."

Sora nodded and they both ran back, the soreness of their muscles having escaped their minds completely.

…

"A keyhole?"

Kairi nodded, "Yeah it just appeared on the rock."

All four of them were sitting in various positions outside. Roxas was on his back, Namine sat near Roxas with her legs tucked underneath her, Kairi was cross-legged next to Namine, and Sora was seated casually on the low limb of a tree above them.

"What do you think it's for?" Namine asked.

"I think the question we need to ask before that is what it's even doing there in the first place." Sora replied.

Roxas sat up so he could get a better look at everyone, "How exactly did it appear again Sora?"

The brunette sighed up in the tree, "When I walked towards the rock there was nothing there, but when I reached out to touch it the keyhole just… appeared."

"It's like it responded to you," Kairi stated, her eyebrows scrunched together in deep thought.

Namine absentmindedly drew in the dirt with her finger, thinking back to what that black creature told her in the forest.

…

_But two distinct dots of yellow caught her attention. Namine came crashing out of her peace as she stared at what seemed to be glowing yellow eyes. Where the yellow eyes were surrounded by a shadow where a shadow shouldn't be for sun was streaming into the spot where the yellow was._

'_We know who you are.'_

"_Huh?" Namine spoke aloud, coming to a complete stop and staring at the shadow. Who just said that? Surely it wasn't her imagination._

"_Namine?" Roxas turned back to look at her, "what is it?"_

…

Maybe those creatures know where I came from… Who I am, Namine thought. The blonde girl looked down to see she had made a sketchy drawing one of those black creatures reaching out to touch the keyhole Sora and Kairi described. But beside that she had drawn a strange looking key. Key… Of course!

"Have you guys thought to look for the key to that keyhole?" Namine inquired, suddenly startling her friends.

"A key?" Kairi wondered.

Namine nodded, "Yeah a key, every keyhole has a key that goes to it right?"

"You know what… You're right Namine," Roxas said.

Sora pounded his fist against his palm, "Then that's what we'll do, let's search for that key!" The brunette jumped down to the ground and started marching forward, but when he didn't hear footsteps following he turned in confusion to find his friends still sitting on the ground, staring at him. "What is it?"

Kairi laughed nervously, "We don't even know where to start looking Sora."

Roxas stood and brushed himself off, "Besides, it's already getting late. We'll set off tomorrow." The blonde yawned and stretched his arms over his head.

"Wow this is a change, Roxas is the lazy one instead of Sora," Namine said with a giggle, standing up also with Kairi not far behind her.

"Hey!" Sora and Roxas shouted in unison.

Kairi laughed and put her hand on Namine's shoulder, "Let's just head back. Sora, if it'll make you happy, yes we will go tomorrow morning all right?"

Without waiting for a response Kairi and Namine walked back to their cabin, leaving Roxas and Sora to trail after them.

"I'm not lazy," Sora grumbled.

"I'm not like Sora," Roxas mumbled to himself.

XXX

**Quickly I'd like to thank those who have followed/added this story to their favorites already. I really appreciate it!**

**See you next chapter!**


	6. Searching For The Key

**I do apologize for the long wait and the shortness of the chapter but I just wanted to get it out. Anyways, enjoy!**

XXX

The following morning, in an odd twist of events, Sora was the first one to wake up. He had risen as soon as the sun had peeked over the horizon and wasted no time in waking everyone else up. After many complaints and snarky comments all four of them were gathered outside by the time the entirety of the sun had risen over the horizon.

"Okay," Roxas yawned, "where do we look first?"

"Well…" Kairi began, putting a finger to her chin in thought, "how about the rock where we saw the keyhole?"

"Good idea!" Sora exclaimed. "Let's get going!" With that, Sora turned and walked into the forest; Kairi, Roxas, and Namine in tow.

…

"So this is it?" Namine asked, staring down the large mossy rock. The blonde crossed her arms, "Doesn't look very impressive, much less look like it could harbor a magical glowing keyhole on its surface."

"This is it, I swear," Sora said.

"Then where's the keyhole?" Roxas asked; eyebrows raised skeptically.

"I… I don't know," the brunette boy admitted with a sigh.

"Sora it reacted when you touched it remember?" Kairi reminded him.

Sora snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah!" As he took a step towards it a thought occurred to him, "just be ready to catch me okay?"

"Catch you?" Roxas asked.

"You'll see," Kairi whispered to him as they watched Sora step up to the rock.

The brunette took a deep breath, "Well here goes nothing." He reached out to touch the mossy surface of the rock and just as he made contact the familiar flash of light blinded him and he was sent flying backwards as before, but instead of landing on the hard ground he was caught by his friends behind him.

"You okay man?" Roxas asked as him and Kairi put Sora back on his feet.

"It _is_ real," they heard Namine gasp beside them, her eyes fixed on the rock.

All three turned and there was the same glowing keyhole, shining brightly atop the moss of the gray stone. However the keyhole disappeared shortly after it revealed itself, returning to the view of the dull rock.

"We told you it was real," Kairi said with a smirk.

"Will the same thing happen if I touch it?" Roxas wondered, already proceeding towards the stone.

"Roxas I wouldn't—" Namine began but Roxas' hand had already met the mossy surface. This time, though, nothing happened. There was no flash of light that would send Roxas spiraling backwards; it was just a dull ordinary rock.

"That's weird," Roxas mumbled as he stepped back. "How come Sora can do it and I can't?"

"Let me try," Kairi stated as she went up to the rock and touched its mossy surface, only to get the same results as Roxas; nothing happened.

"All right, my turn," Namine said as she took her turn to approach the rock. Roxas positioned himself to catch her in case the light of the keyhole appeared for her. Instead of making contact with the moss covering the gray rock, her hand touched a barrier of some sort that sent a shock up her arm.

Namine drew her hand back quickly and clutched it with her other hand as she looked back to the rock to be met with the sight of some sort of shimmering barrier made of up hexagonal tiles. However it disappeared completely as if it was never there in the first place. The blonde girl blinked and turned back towards her friends, "That was weird right?"

"Very weird," Roxas agreed, still staring at the spot where the barrier shimmered into existence.

"Great," Sora said with a sigh, "every time we leave our cabin we come back with twenty new questions and no answers."

Kairi gave her boyfriend a comforting hug, "We'll figure it out Sora." But it sounded like she was trying to convince herself as well.

Sora nodded and mentally pushed the matter aside, "Let's just… search around for this mysterious key and worry about…" he paused and gestured towards the mossy rock, "whatever this is, later."

Roxas nodded in agreement along with Kairi and Namine as all four teens began to search every inch of the area; Namine made sure to avoid getting close to the strange rock lest she get shocked by the barrier again.

From dawn until dusk they searched. They made sure to leave no rock unturned or crevice not searched around the area that held the strange mossy stone. They looked around their cabin where the black creature attacked them, and at some point split up with Sora and Roxas going to check out the beach while Kairi and Namine went to see if there was anything in the places where they saw the glowing yellow eyes and dark creatures. By the time they both met up again, the sun was already sinking below the horizon.

Sora ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, "Find anything?"

Namine shook her head, "Nothing but more questions…"

Roxas groaned in defeat and plopped down on the cabin floor, "This is so frustrating. What is happening on this island?"

"If I knew Roxas, I'd tell you," Sora sighed as he looked out the window watching the stars start to pierce the dark sky.

Kairi looked at all of them and slammed her foot on the ground, causing all three to jump and look at her in surprise. "Come on guys cheer up!" she exclaimed, "We'll figure this out; we're smart!" She turned towards Sora expecting him to back her up on this but was only met with the sight of him staring sadly out the window.

Namine jumped up, pulling Roxas up with her, "Kairi's right! We can do this!" The blonde looked to Roxas who nodded with a determined expression. "Yeah, we're not gonna let some weird things get us down."

Collectively, all three turned to look at Sora, who hadn't spoken the whole time, to be met with the same view of him staring blankly outside.

"Sora!" Kairi exclaimed, grabbing the brunette's shoulder and yanking it back so he was facing them. Sora blinked in confusion, looking up at the determined faces of his friends, "Sorry guys it's just…" He sighed and shook his head, "never mind." The brunette smiled, "You guys are right, I know we can solve this… mystery."

"Good. Then we'll continue searching tomorrow," Roxas stated, "we all need sleep though; been a long day."

The rest of them nodded in agreement and they all laid down to sleep for the night.

XXX

**Fear not, this will all make sense eventually. If you're confused now then good. Hopefully I will not take such a long gap between chapters next time. See you next chapter!**


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